Previously, after the court spread the news about the auction of the salt field, Xinning Bo Tan Guozuo asked his wife Wang to enter the palace to ask for an audience with the Queen Mother Rensheng and wanted a letter of invitation.
But because of the last plea, Wang's two requests for an audience were rejected by Rensheng on the grounds of lack of health. Tan Guozuo had no choice but to bring generous gifts to the British Duke Zhang Rong.
After the British Duke and Xin Ningbo were both heroes in the Jingnan War, they became natural political allies. Tan Guozuo was an uneducated and old man. Although the British Duke didn't like him very much, Tan Guozuo was a man who never made big mistakes.
He is the type who makes small mistakes all the time, and no one takes him seriously. What's more, the friendship left by the older generation is still there, and the two families keep moving around.
Seeing Tan Guozuo come to visit, the British Duke pointed out to him: "As far as I know, this invitation letter is now in the hands of the Queen Mothers of the two palaces, Zhang Juzheng, Lu Tiaoyang, Wang Guangguang, Chen Zan, Ge Shouli, Qi Jiguang, Zhang Hong, Chen
I have a few of them in my hand, and if you flatter one of these people, you can get them."
Tan Guozuo said with a sad face: "I don't know any of these people well. I just met Wang Guoguang a few times at Pinhua Tower, and I didn't even drink. Every time, I didn't know the person first. Can he do it?"
How about, Mr. Guo, please help me get one."
The British Duke was angry and funny, and pointed at his forehead and said: "The two empress dowagers are not included, the others are all the emperor's ministers, the emperor asked them to post this post, just to make them a small fortune - Wang Guoguang's place
The post, one thousand taels a piece, has been announced a long time ago, you can get it if you go with the money."
After hearing this, Tan Guozuo stuck out his tongue and said, "This post is like gold, it's so expensive!"
Unexpectedly, these words really tickled the British public. He showed off his post and showed it to Tan Guozuo: "Haha, let me tell you, this post is indeed golden."
When Tan Guozuo took it over and looked at it, he saw a post as big as a book page. It was made of gold and weighed half a kilogram. It looked old-fashioned. On it, text was embedded using the silver rubbing method, which read: We sincerely invite the British public to come on the first day of October.
Chen was holding this sticker to attend the salt auction at Wuying Palace, and it was signed by Wang Guoguang, the Prime Minister and Minister of Salt Affairs.
The British public saw Tan Guozuo turning over and over to appreciate this post, looking like he was about to cry with envy. His vanity was greatly satisfied. He twirled his goatee with few strands left in his hands and laughed: "Zhang Jing is a very naughty dog! I heard that the emperor is just
Ask him to make the post more beautiful, but this guy is doing something wrong! Use gold for the duke, and silver for the marquis. If you get it, I heard that the count's house can only be made of wood."
After hearing this, Tan Guozuo asked: "What about the civil and military officials? What about the merchants? Made of paper shells?"
Hearing this, the British Duke smiled and cupped his hands to the north and said: "Don't you know? The emperor's favor is so great! Except for the house of the Duke, Marquis and Lord Bo, no one else has a share in this first big auction! I have long said that the Emperor
He has shown favor to us honorable ministers, but how is it now? As expected!"
Tan Guozuo said in his heart that your old man's courage was almost shattered after the reading. This can only fool ghosts.
Seeing his disapproval, the British Duke continued: "From the fact that that bastard Duke Cheng was able to get the title of king, I feel that the emperor is definitely not like the previous emperor who only listened to the words of the civil servants. This time there are many good things going on.
All the princes have no part in it, so what else do you have to say!"
The review at the imperial meeting left a shadow in Tan Guozuo's heart. He had different views on the emperor, but he was not here to talk to the British Duke about this. Seeing the old Guozuo's beautiful eyes narrowed into small slits, he also flattered the emperor a few times.
sentence.
Seeing that the British Duke was familiar with the inside story, he asked the British Duke how the auction was conducted. After the British Duke explained the method of exchanging nine sides of land for points, Tan Guozuo took a breath and said: "This...
My family doesn’t have any land in the border town, right?”
The British Duke sighed and said: "Although I have hundreds of hectares at home, it's hard to do everything. After getting the post, I have already arranged for someone to buy the land - I don't know how much I can get in the past two months."
Tan Guozuo slapped the table and said: "Then a landless person like me deserves to be bullied? I can only choose the nooks and crannies? Isn't it true that the more you have, the more you have, and the poorer you get, the poorer you get?"
After hearing this, the British Duke frowned and said: "I don't like to hear what you are saying. This salt farm was originally state-owned and belonged to the emperor's family. I just don't give it to you. How can you say no? Now the emperor's kindness is so great that I can give it to you."
Each of our families has a golden rice bowl, how can you still think that the seeds are too big for you to eat dates for free?!"
"There are still two months left. Can't you arrange for people to go to Ningxia and other distant places? I heard that the land there is abandoned and grass grows there. It's incredibly cheap. Well, I shouldn't tell you that.
These." After saying that, he mentally gave himself a warning and stopped talking.
After hearing this, Tan Guozuo felt that the method of using points to determine the order of selection was full of malice for him. He said fiercely: "It's so difficult to handle, why don't I just want this salt farm? How can my family starve to death with just the earl's salary and land rent?"
"
After hearing this, the British Duke sneered: "You don't know, do you? Haha, this salt field is just like a sacrificial field or a tomb field. No matter what crimes your descendants have committed, as long as they are not among the ten evils such as treason, no one can copy them."
No! According to the regulations, the earl’s family is allowed to set up a sacrificial field with twenty hectares of cemetery land. How much of this thousand acres of land will be left after excluding the sacrificial fees? If an unworthy descendant comes out in the future, there will be hundreds of families like us.
Everyone drinks the northwest wind?"
After hearing this, Tan Guozuo took a breath of cold air and burped continuously. The British father covered his nose and said: "You bastard, did you eat garlic so early in the morning?"
Tan Guozuo blushed and stammered: "I ate... a bowl of noodles. Can I just put garlic on it? Hey! Don't talk about this. This is equivalent to a field sacrifice. Is it... really?"
!”
The British public fanned the air with his hand and said disgustedly: "I'm lying to you, isn't it? Zhang Jing said when he came to my house to deliver the note, as long as this salt farm is not bought and sold, it will be an inheritance for generations to come. Think about it, who has a door panel on his head?
If it is pinched, can the sacrificial field be sold? Unless the incense is cut off - no matter who is in charge, if the sacrificial field is to be sold, fellow clan members are not allowed to tear it up for him?"
"You have tens of thousands of acres of land, how can you keep any of it if something goes wrong? Besides, the output of a thousand acres of land may not be as good as a small salt farm! I heard that several companies have sold land in Gyeonggi, and I also
I need to get money to buy a salt farm. After passing this village, there is no store next to it!"
After hearing this, Tan Guozuo said to himself that he had to buy a few pieces of this salt field. Even if he was far away in Fujian, I would admit it. At most, I would subcontract it out and earn the rent from the salt field. Thinking of this, he asked the British father again whether the salt field could be sold.
No subcontracting.
Britain is fair: "If you choose this salt farm, it will be your own business. If you produce more or less, you will manage it by yourself. Of course, you can sublease it. But since it is a business, of course you have to pay taxes. I heard that the tax is very low. In the first few years, the tax is 15%."
1. If you are hit by a disaster, you may be exempt from tax."
After hearing this, Tan Guozuo shouted: "Fifteen tax per yen is not high? The commercial tax is only 30 per yen..."
Britain sneered and interrupted: "Then how much does it cost to clear customs for your business in other places? The salt from this salt factory must be stamped, and it can be sold after paying the tax once! Do you calculate this account, is the tax still high?"
After hearing this, Tan Guozuo had nothing to say. He was calculating his assets in his mind to see how much money he could spend to buy the salt farm. The British father rolled his eyes when he saw him calculating, and then gave him a disgusted look.
After a while, Tan Guozuo smiled and said fairly to Britain: "In the past two years, the emperor has opened an imperial factory and an imperial store. He is not short of money to spend? Why did he sell all the salt fields?"
The British father-in-law glanced at him again and said, "What's wrong? You're not happy?" Tan Guozuo smiled dryly and said, "Then how can we not be happy? We're not curious, so let's ask."
The British Duke sighed and said: "It is not easy for the emperor to be in charge of such a big family. How much worry does he have to worry about at such a young age! Do you think the money is enough? This year there has been another flood in Huaiyang and Shaanxi. There has been a severe drought in Shaanxi. In addition to the area near the capital in Northern Zhili,
If there is more rain, it will be a severe drought! The silver flowers are like a river, and there is not enough to fill the hole."
After hearing this, Tan Guozuo said again: "Then use the money from selling the salt field this year to provide disaster relief. If there is another disaster next year, what will the emperor sell? Selling the mine?"
The British prince glanced at him and thought that this guy was a bit clever. He said in a low voice: "I invited Wang Guoguang to my house for dinner and had a deep talk. This guy is trying to persuade the emperor to sell the mine. Maybe you really got it.
"
Hearing this, Tan Guozuo breathed heavily. He asked the British justice: "If it can really happen, it would be great if we could save the money to buy a mine. I heard that the Royal Iron Works in northern Beijing has lost its coal consumption this year - if we can buy a big mine,
Didn’t we make it?"
The British Duke sneered: "The mine may not be auctioned. Even if Wang Guoguang's plan is really successful, it will definitely not be done in this way, and it cannot be treated like a sacrifice to a field. If you dare to bet, just keep your money and wait for the mine to be auctioned. Anyway, I dare not
Bet - our family has borrowed 600,000 taels of silver, all of which will be used to build the salt farm!"
After a pause, he continued: "I heard from Wang Guoguang that the emperor is really worried about money. After the salt farm is auctioned this year, it is estimated that it will last for a few years. He said that the emperor told him privately that if he formally takes charge and still has no money,
We need to issue shipping licenses, open customs from south to north, open trade routes to Japan, Korea, and even Southeast Asia, and auction 'franchises' once every five years!"
After hearing this, Tan Guozuo didn't understand what "franchise" meant. When the British Duke explained it clearly, he asked in a trembling voice: "This...is it okay for our group of honorable ministers to come first?"
After hearing this, the British Duke smiled and said: "I just want to say that the emperor and our honorable ministers are the most considerate and considerate. Wang Guoguang said that if I are serious, I can start buying ships now and train the sailors and captains first. When the emperor officially takes charge, who will
If there are many ships and the ships are big, whoever has the advantage will take advantage!"
After hearing this, Tan Guozuo was in awe of the British man's courage. With his little wealth, he could barely manage a salt farm, and he couldn't even think about shipping. He asked in a low voice: "In this way, those guys in Jiangnan will not be able to change the world.
?”
After hearing this, the British Duke sneered: "Do you think the soldiers and martial arts that Qi Jiguang trained are just for show? Regardless of the emperor's young age, the profoundness of Sheng Mo is not a pleasant thing to say! Whoever dares to change the world will be turned into a fan!"